Understanding the Needs of the Youths and their Coping Strategies

Abstract

Youths are the most energetic and productive segment of the total population of any country. Generally, transitional period from childhood to adult- hood is considered as youth. But the age limit of youth varies from country to country. People in Bangladesh within the age group of 18-35 years are considered as youth as per its National Youth Policy. Among the total population of Bangladesh about one-thirds are of youth group. As individuals move into youth from adolescence their needs and demands are changed. But what is the nature of needs of the youths of Bangladesh? Do they face any barrier to meet their needs? What kind of strategies do they follow to meet their needs? These questions should be addressed with empirical evidence for the betterment of the youths. Therefore, an exploratory study has been carried out by following qualitative approach to address the abovementioned research questions and the findings have been presented in this paper with policy implications and concluding remarks at the end. The findings show that quality education, pure and fresh food, healthcare and reproductive health services, employment opportunity, housing with utility services, training for skill development and recreational facilities are their prime needs. They could fulfill their needs to some extent but still there are a lot of barriers to fulfill their needs. Accordingly, they adopt a variety of indigenous mechanisms to cope with this situation. However, the findings would be useful for the policy makers, social workers and development practitioners, and create a new avenue for further study in this field.